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20 You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as,

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20 Since you died with Christ(A) to the elemental spiritual forces of this world,(B) why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:(C)

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Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers[a] of this world, rather than from Christ.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:8 Or the spiritual principles; also in 2:20.

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,(A) which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces[a] of this world(B) rather than on Christ.

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Footnotes

  1. Colossians 2:8 Or the basic principles; also in verse 20

And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles[a] of this world.

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Footnotes

  1. 4:3 Or powers; also in 4:9.

So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery(A) under the elemental spiritual forces[a] of the world.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Galatians 4:3 Or under the basic principles

16 So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths.

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Freedom From Human Rules

16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you(A) by what you eat or drink,(B) or with regard to a religious festival,(C) a New Moon celebration(D) or a Sabbath day.(E)

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19 We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.

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19 We know that we are children of God,(A) and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.(B)

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Living for God

So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin.[a] You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God. You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.

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Footnotes

  1. 4:1 Or For the one [or One] who has suffered physically has finished with sin.

Living for God

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body,(A) arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.(B) As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires,(C) but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past(D) doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.(E)

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14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

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14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness,(A) which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.(B)

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So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.

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Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.(A) It is good for our hearts to be strengthened(B) by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods,(C) which is of no benefit to those who do so.(D)

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19 For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ.[a] It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:20 Some English translations put this sentence in verse 19.

19 “For through the law I died to the law(A) so that I might live for God.(B) 20 I have been crucified with Christ(C) and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.(D) The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,(E) who loved me(F) and gave himself for me.(G)

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So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. When we were controlled by our old nature,[a] sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.

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Footnotes

  1. 7:5 Greek When we were in the flesh.

So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law(A) through the body of Christ,(B) that you might belong to another,(C) to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh,[a](D) the sinful passions aroused by the law(E) were at work in us,(F) so that we bore fruit for death.(G) But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law(H) so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.(I)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 7:5 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.

You adulterers![a] Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.

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Footnotes

  1. 4:4 Greek You adulteresses!

You adulterous(A) people,[a] don’t you know that friendship with the world(B) means enmity against God?(C) Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. James 4:4 An allusion to covenant unfaithfulness; see Hosea 3:1.

14 As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross,[a] my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died.

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Footnotes

  1. 6:14 Or Because of him.

14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,(A) through which[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Galatians 6:14 Or whom

So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world? 10 You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years. 11 I fear for you. Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing. 12 Dear brothers and sisters,[a] I plead with you to live as I do in freedom from these things, for I have become like you Gentiles—free from those laws.

You did not mistreat me when I first preached to you.

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Footnotes

  1. 4:12 Greek brothers; also in 4:28, 31.

But now that you know God—or rather are known by God(A)—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces[a]? Do you wish to be enslaved(B) by them all over again?(C) 10 You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!(D) 11 I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.(E)

12 I plead with you, brothers and sisters,(F) become like me, for I became like you. You did me no wrong.

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Footnotes

  1. Galatians 4:9 Or principles